Week 1

• ImranaI. Kabir

Project Scope

subsidiary plans

plan

Resource plan

C3PE and PMBOK Knowledge Areas

Stakeholders

Project Deliverables

Requirements & constraints

Project benefits

Scope statement

WBS

Work packages

Duration

Cost

Network diagram

Risk register

Risk responses

Communication plan

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 2, Sec. 1.9 Table 1-1

Risk(Part 1, Sec 11)

Scope (Part 1, Sec. 5)

Schedule(Part 1, Sec. 6)

Cost(Part 1, Sec. 7)

Stakeholders

(Part 1, Sec. 13)

Communications

(Part 1, Sec. 10)

Resources

(Part 1, Sec.9)

1

Why do projects fail?

• The project was not adequately defined at the beginning.
• lack of clearly defined project goals and objectives.
• Project planning was done with insufficient data.
• Poor work definition.

Black, K. (1996). Causes of project failure: a survey of professional engineers.PM Network, 10(11), 21–24.

Collect requirements

GSOE9820 Engineering Project Management

Imrana Kabir

Collecting Requirements (PM Methods)

• Brainstorming
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Questionnaires and surveys
• Benchmarking
• Document analysis:
  • Specifications, RFPs
  • Standards
  • Regulations

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 1, Sec. 5.2

• Affinity diagramming
• Mind mapping
• Nominal group technique (Delphi methods -wikipedia)
• Observation
• Prototyping/concept designs

Dwivedi, N. “Elicitation Techniques” video in course Software Design: Developing effective requirements, accessed 23/02/2021, LinkedIn Learning accessed through UNSW

Writing requirements

• Say “shall” for mandatory requirements.
• Say “should”for optional requirements.
• SMART(specific, measurable ,attainable, relevant, timely)

How about an agile specification? User stories!

A user story is an informal, general explanation of a feature written from the perspective of the end user.

• a student, I want to… find out when my lectures are happening, so that… I can meet my friends on campus.
• User stories are clever because they connect stakeholder, requirement and benefit together in one trackable item.

Sydney Harbourforeshore authority

Pyrmont bridge

• Timber bridge
• timber truss spans, each 25m long with a total span of ~ 370m.
• Electric swing span (1stof its kind in the world)
• Central pier to provide access into the harbour for larger boats–the swing path opens

Reference: NSW Government, The Star Group

Pyrmont bridge

Requirements Method: Document analysis

Reviewed Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) report on existing conditions (e.g. traffic and transport use)

Identified:

• timber trusses and piers, required replacement.
• the restoration was determined to be completed in two stages
• Stage 1: replacement of the timber pier sets
• Stage 2: replacement of the timber trusses
• heritage-listed icon and requires ongoing maintenance (public safety)

Reference: Pyrmont Master Plan, Traffic and Transport, December 2005

Try to write observable requirements that give the client what they actually want and maximum design freedom (and accountability) to your engineers:

• requirement for bridge design life:
• always be standing.”
• betterone:
• fully functional for 95% of the time and traffic performance intended at design.

Writing great requirements simplifies testing and configuration management!

Functional requirement:describes behaviour of the product by actions, processes…

Non-functional requirement:qualities/conditions for product to be effective

(PMBOK 5.3.2)

Inspired by 1.5.1. Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland

Define scope

GSOE9820 Engineering Project Management

Imrana Kabir

Defining Scope

The challenge in scope definition

Scope definition is the creative center of project management

Requirements

Constraints

Project priorities

Scope statements and WBS

‘The problem’

‘The solution’

Develop project scope

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 1, Sec. 3.4.3

What does this mean for me?

The bad 

• Scope definition is only deceptively simple.
• You will need your own (or you will need to access) domain-specific knowledge to be effective.
• You can’t assume that scope definition will be procedural or routine or even particularly ‘easy’.
• planning complex projects, it will involve a high degree of negotiation, compromise and hard work.

What does this mean for me?

The good ☺

• Scope definition and the WBS is not a forgone conclusion.
• PM, scope definition is where you leave your creative mark on the project.

But, what if you only partly know all the requirements and the scope at the beginning?

(surprisingly, common situation)

Triple constraint

GSOE9820 Engineering Project Management

Imrana kabir

Triple Constraint Model

Establishing Project Priorities

Trade Offs / Compromises

Project Priority Matrix

The WBS

GSOE9820 Engineering Project Management

Imrana Kabir

WBS summary (definition)

From: Project Management Institute, Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (Project Management Institute, 2nd ed., 2006)

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 1, Sec. 5.4.1

Generating the WBS

The Project Scope Diagram

Rogers, J. “Work breakdown structure” video in course Construction Management, Planning and Scheduling, accessed 23/02/2021, LinkedIn Learning accessed through UNSW

This video gives a nice explanation of how the WBS includes more than just the PBS, and how it is not about scheduling, and the presenterdefines the work packages correctly.

The Work Breakdown Structure

Building a WBS hierarchy

Advantages of using a WBS

1

Example WBS for a software project

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 1, Sec. 5.4.2

Example WBS for an engineering project

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 1, Sec. 5.4.2

Work Packages

1

Coding the Work Package

An Activity

Sample WBS Coding

Activities combine to form part of a Work Package

Common WBS Misconceptions

WBS Tips

1

Example Project –Zero Emission Buses

Analyse project information from TfNSW(Project Sponsor)

“The NSW Government is working towards achieving a target of net-zero emissions by 2050. Transport for NSW has responded accordingly and will attempt to transition the NSW bus fleet to net zero by 2030.”

Example -Purpose Statement

• help the NSW Government achieve its 2050 net zero-emission target, by reducing emissions from the NSW bus fleet and associated infrastructure to support zero-emission buses (ZEBs). This will enhance economical activityfor the energy/transport sector and environmental benefits for the NSW general public.

Disclaimer: these statements are not perfect and are not guaranteed 100%!

Example -Scope Statement

• year project involvesrenovatingthe existing NSW bus diesel depots and constructingnew depots for zero-emission operation. This needs to be achieved under AUD $2,000,000per calendar year starting January 1st2021 –December 31st2023.
• analysis to consider the most appropriate power method such as hydrogen and electric infrastructure.Guided evaluationswill be performed to consider charging techniques and technologies, depot specifications/equipment/facilities, digital upliftsand smart sensors, system safety/verification/performance testing, and training/transition workshops to smooth the transition for 8000 future ZEBs.

Disclaimer: these statements are not perfect and are not guaranteed 100%!

Example -WBS

Is each sub-deliverable small enough for 1 person to be responsible?

• indicative of a noun, and NOT an activity/verb? Does it focus on objectives and deliverables, rather than actions?
• of the scope to indicate project completion?

Disclaimer: this WBS is not perfect and are not guaranteed 100%!

Is the WBS Coding correct?

Formulating WBS in different PM lifecycles

GSOE9820 Engineering Project Management

Imrana Kabir

Predictive lifecycle

Concept

Characteristics

• Take advantage of prior knowledge and experience
• Useful for project with extensive design, e.g. safety requirements, regulatory constraints
• Reduced uncertainty in deliverables
• Should reduce complexity in projects and minimise cost (but change needs to be carefully controlled, if not can become overwhelming)

Agile Practice Guide (2017) Sec. 3.1.1

Iterative lifecycle

Concept

Characteristics

• Implicit in prototyping: improve the product or result through successive prototypes or proofs of concept.
• Useful for high complexity, frequent changes
• Sometimes prototypes are the only way to obtain comprehensive requirements
• Projects take longer because they prioritise learning rather than speed of delivery

Agile Practice Guide (2017) Sec. 3.1.2

Incremental lifecycle

Concept

• Delivering value to sponsors or customers more often than a single, final product.
• The delivery team may deviate from the original plan, but can manage this change because they keep on delivering value to customer very soon after

Example:

• Software-provide a customer with a single, fully working function in a new software design;
• Builder:build and completely decorate a single room in a new house andshow it to the customer

Characteristics

Agile Practice Guide (2017) Sec. 3.1.3

Agile lifecycle

Straçusser, G. (2015). Agile project management concepts applied to construction and other non-IT fields. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2015—North America, Orlando, FL. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

The 100% ‘Agile’ PM model works best with few interdependencies between most of the work packages

Focused on continuous releases that incorporate customer feedback, which can be more suitable for modern businesses with rapid responses/change

Lifecycle summary

Agile Practice Guide (2017) Sec. 3.1.

subsidiary plans

plan

Resource plan

C3PA and PMBOK Knowledge Areas

Stakeholders

Project Deliverables

Requirements & constraints

Project benefits

Scope statement

WBS

Work packages

Duration

Cost

Network diagram

Risk register

Risk responses

Communication plan

PMBOK Guide (6thEd) Part 2, Sec. 1.9 Table 1-1

Risk(Part 1, Sec 11)

Scope (Part 1, Sec. 5)

Schedule(Part 1, Sec. 6)

Cost(Part 1, Sec. 7)

Stakeholders

(Part 1, Sec. 13)

Communications

(Part 1, Sec. 10)

Resources

(Part 1, Sec.9)